by Mehlo, Noel
Figure 118: The HMS MAURETANIA II painted in her wartime grey. (public domain) The RMS Mauretania II was laid down on May 24, 1937 as Hull number SS. 1029. She was launched on July 28, 1938 and was completed in May 1939 and ready for sea trials. This vessel was successor to the RMS Mauretania built in 1906 that sailed until retirement 1936. The RMS Mauretania II was a medium sized Cunarder built at Cammell Laird yard in Birkenhead, England. She was the first ship constructed for the new Cunard-White Star, Ltd. This company was the result of the 1934 merger between the Cunard Line and the White Star Line. She was designed for the London to New York service and was the largest vessel ever to navigate the Thames and use the Royal Docks, and at the time was the largest ship to be built in an English shipyard. She made her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on June 17, 1939. She is shown in her wartime paint in Figure 118.
The RMS Mauretania 2 had a tonnage of 35,739 gross. She was 772 feet in length with a beam of 89 feet. Her design was very similar to that of the RMS Queen Elizabeth on a smaller scale. She was powered by two Parsons single reduction-geared steam turbines. She was capable of producing 42,000 shaft horsepower and has twin driving propellers for a cruising speed of 23 knots. Based on photographic evidence, I have researched her loaded draft at 37 feet based on photographic evidence. Her peacetime crew consisted of 802. Her civilian passenger capacity was 1,360. As a troop ship, she would often carry up to 6,500 troops. 6
The Mauretania was requisitioned as a troopship by the British Ministry of War on March 6, 1940. Once the Mauretania was requisitioned by the British government and pressed into service, it became designated HMS Mauretania. She had been in service for less than six months at the outbreak of war in Europe. The Mauretania 2 was defensively armed with two 6 inch guns and some smaller weapons, painted battle gray and was then dispatched to America in December 1939 to protect her from marauding German forces. She arrived in New York and was ultimately berthed on the north side of Pier 86 where she was joined by the HMS Queen Mary, HMS Queen Elizabeth and SS Normandie.5
According to the National Museums Liverpool, Records relating to HMS Mauretania's wartime service are held at the National Archives in the United Kingdom under the ship’s official number 166267. She sailed from the NYPE on March 20th leaving the harbor providing no signals of any kind. She arrived in Sydney, Australia on April 14th by way of Bermuda, the Panama Canal and Honolulu, Hawaii. It was there she was converted into a troopship in 1940. It was there that her luxury trimmings were removed. She was fitted out to accommodate up to 6,500 troops with the installation of bunks, hammocks and mess tables. She was defensively outfitted with two six inch guns, three 12 pounder guns, three 40 mm guns, twenty-two 20mm antiaircraft guns and two rocket launchers. She remained in that service through the end of the war, traveling 540,000 miles and carrying over 350,000 troops.
The HMS Mauretania II went on to serve until 1944 as a troop transport on what is called the 'Suez Shuttle' between Bombay, Colombo, Durban and Port Tewfik. She narrowly avoided a collision with the SS Ile de France on May 15, 1942. After the allied victory in North Africa, the Mauretania II returned to the North Atlantic to aid in the build-up of troops between the United States and the United Kingdom. Due to her speed, she would often travel alone. She was a desired target of the German U-boat fleet. On more than one occasion, she found herself hunted by German U-boat Wolf Packs, avoiding being sunk with pure power and speed. She is shown in action in Figures 119 through 121.
Figure 119: In her grey wartime paint, the MAURETANIA II leaves Liverpool for a safe haven in New York on 10th December, 1939. (MINISTRY OF DEFENCE (FOXHILL))
.
Figure 120: Mauretania II docks in Newport News w/2,036 German prisoners 9/16/42. (Public Domain) Figure 121: The new Queen Elizabeth arrives off Pier 90 to join Queen Mary, Normandie, Mauretania and Franconia (Public Domain) With the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion on board, the Mauretania took on her remaining complement of embarking troops. Among the units making this voyage able to be identified were the United States Navy’s US 6th Naval Beach Battalion, the United States Army Air Corps, 84th Troop Carrier Squadron, part of the 437th Air Group (glider), Also sailing was the 54th Replacement Battalion, ETO.7 General Raaen also recounted a Tank Destroyer unit on board as he made friends with an officer that he named as Leonard Pourney, although I could not identify this unit. He recalled this officer was decorated for heroism later in the war. These units would have embarked during the night. There are likely other units that shared this voyage, as many of the units listed were battalion sized.
The HMS Mauretania backed out of its slip at the NYPE at 0700 hours on January 8, 1944 en route to a secret destination. It then got underway south down the Hudson River piloted by a harbor pilot. She passed Battery Park at the confluence with the East River at the southern tip of Manhattan Island. She then sailed passed Governors Island to the port (left) side, Ellis Island and Liberty Island to the starboard (right) side of the ship.
Soon we embarked on the Mauritania, a luxury liner only five years old but now fitted to carry troops. This was a British ship which was fast enough to go unescorted across the Atlantic for it could outrun the submarines. At least, this is what we were told! We were quartered on a deck which had bunks attached four or five high on each wall. My memory is that they folded up during the day. The space between these walls and the outer wall of the ship had hooks which supported hammocks at night. All space was used. Our windows were covered so no-one could see in to see troops, and we could just barely see out a bit of open space at the top. We did see the Statue of Liberty as we slowly passed it. (Victor J. "Baseplate" Miller)
What happened next is a story that has historically been underreported in its potential significance to the outcome of the personnel aboard the HMS Mauretania II. It was recorded in the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion Company Morning report that the vessel struck a freighter at 0900 hours on the morning of January 8th. In reality, the HMS Mauretania II collided with the SS Hat Creek, a United Stated Navy T2 tanker that was equipped to transport either gasoline or oil depending on its mission requirements (Figure 122). This collision could have ended in a maritime disaster that killed thousands and navigationally choked the New York Harbor for some time. It could have affected the outcome on Omaha Beach where the Rangers landed on June 6, 1944 had the collision resulted in the loss of the ship and all or most hands. Considering that it was an oiler that struck Mauretania, it is a blessing to the men of the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion that this potential disaster did not find them on the open sea. Had this accident happened in the open ocean at speed, or had the tanker broken open and exploded for some reason, the story of the unit could have turned out much differently. I also doubt that most of them knew how close a call they had that day.
Figure 122: The T2 tanker Hat Creek in August 1943 (NARA Number 80022 from Record Group 80, General Records of the Department of the Navy, 1798-1947. The photo was taken on 16 August 1943. The picture was researched by Dave Whittaker, Suffolk, VA) This collision is worth looking at from different angles and in detail. The story comes into better focus that way. This research has revealed telling stories as told by various men from various units aboard that day. When compiled, the story of this incident becomes very important. Accounts from then Lieutenant John C. Raaen, Jr., Sgt James Robert Copeland and Victor Miller of the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion, help set the story. In addition to this are the accounts of Doctor Lee Parker, US 6th Naval Beach Battalion, 1st Lt. James L Larkin, 84th Troop Carrier Squadron, and a biography of William McLain, 54th Replacement Battalion as told by Robert Gorrell.
The SS Hat Creek was designated as a United States Navy T2-SE-A1 Tanker, commonly referred to as a T2 tanker or Navy Oiler. These were the largest of the Navy’s oiler vessels. The SS Hat Creek was built at the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company in Mobile, Alabama in July 1943.8 It was identified as hull number 251 and USMC number 5354.9 The 500 of these vessels constructed were the workhorses of the U.S. Nav
y in terms of petroleum resupply. This vessel survived the war and was renamed multiple times under different owners. In 1957 it was renamed the Amoco Virginia after some refitting. On November 8, 1959, this vessel suffered a catastrophic accident in Houston and caught on fire and exploded while at a port facility killing many people. It burned for nearly a day and required intervention from Navy and Air Force firefighting assets due to the ferocity of the fire aboard.10 Although unrelated to this or another collision, that event on this same vessel confirms how bad the collision could have been. Additionally, the T2 tankers had a design deficiency in cold weather that made them susceptible to breaking up amidships. Two T2 tankers, the SS Pendleton and the SS Fort Mercer, fractured and broke in half killing many of the crewmen aboard in 1952, on the very same day off the East Coast. The United States Coast Guard did heroic work that day and rescued many of the crewmen of both vessels. Later engineering analysis determined that the steel used in the wartime to produce these types of vessels had too high a sulfur content causing the hulls to become brittle under low temperatures.
The vessel had a length of 523 feet and a beam of 68 feet. She had a draft of 30 feet. Her 12,000 shaft horsepower, engine enabled her 5,399 kW turbo-electric transmission and single screw to propel her at a cruising speed of 15 knots with a range of 12,600 nautical miles. SS Hat Creek displaced 22,231 tons with deadweight of approximately 16,000 tons. The SS Fort Mercer was a sister vessel of the T2 SE Al type, commonly referred to as a "T2 tanker." She was one of the two vessels that broke in two not far from New York in the winter of 1952. She was reported to be built on longitudinal framing system with 9 cargo tanks, with tanks Numbered 2 to 9 inclusive being divided by two longitudinal bulkheads so that there were 2 wing tanks, port and starboard. There was also a center tank Number 1 that was divided by a center line bulkhead into 2 tanks. The dimensions of the vessel were a length of 503’, beam of 68', depth of 39'3", draft of 30'2", and freeboard of 9 ' 2-3/4". Her cargo carrying capacity was 10,266 gross carrying 141,158 barrels of petroleum product. This configuration would be very similar to the SS Hat Creek at the time of the collision. This meant that like the HMS Mauretania II, she had very tight tolerances of available travel lanes within New York Harbor and had to stay in prescribed navigational channels with the appropriate depth due to her size.
The reported weather conditions in New York on January 8, 1944 at the time of the collision at 0900 hours were a temperature of 20.3° Fahrenheit (F), with a wind chill of 10.6° F and dew point of 5.4° F. The humidity was 52 %, with a sea level pressure of 30.22 inches. The winds were 8 miles from the NNW and the visibility was 6 miles.11 Based on the engineering deficiencies noted earlier meant that the conditions could have been right for the SS Hat Creek to have had real structural issues if the other physical circumstances of the collision had lined up. Had the Mauretania fully struck the tanker in a full broadside collision, was one potential disastrous scenario. This was decided by a matter of seconds in terms of how the vessels collided. In what to the casual observer, appears to be a matter of scoffing at one or both skippers, might actually be a brilliant act of seamanship to time the collision to occur bow to bow. This might not be the case, and the skipper of the Hat Creek was clearly at fault, but any other collision would have been much, much worse.
Figure 123: New York Harbor, June 1944, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Sheet No. 369-06-1944. Arrows are the estimated positions of the HMS Mauretania and SS Hat Creek at 0900 hours on January 8, 1944 The navigational chart above highlights the challenges in the New York Harbor. The Mauretania II was travelling south along the deep water channel of the Hudson River, entering the Upper Bay past Battery Point at the Southern tip of Manhattan Island. Following the navigational rules posted for the harbor, the route of HMS Mauretania is shown on the map as headed southward on a heading of approximately 210°. The SS Hat Creek likely came from the south and came to a stop near the Bay Ridge Channel on the Brooklyn side of the harbor. She then must have turned to Port from station keeping, lining up with the Bayonne petroleum terminal just to the north of Staten Island and put on steam as she attempted to cut across the main navigational channel of the harbor. There was a channel leading into the mooring cells for tankers running at a bearing of approximately 280°. Of all features in New York Harbor at the time, this would explain the reported right angle of the two vessels. One other factor that was an issue for the HMS Mauretania II was found in the fact that according to U.S. Coast Guard navigational information regarding New York Harbor in 1944, the stretch of water in the channel of the Hudson River from Battery Park south past Governor’s Island is the most treacherous in New York’s Upper Bay due to cross currents of the East River through the reach. She would have had her work cut out just to stay in line in the channel (U. S. Department of Commerce12).
Dr. Lee Parker was a combat surgeon on D-Day who served with the US 6th Naval Beach Battalion. He was originally from Georgia. He landed and assisted the wounded on Fox Red Sector of Omaha Beach, Normandy. He was interviewed on September 10, 1999 about his wartime experience by Ms. Jan Herman, Special Assistant to the Navy Surgeon General.13
Doctor Parker recalled in his interview that during the voyage, former Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Harold R Stark was aboard to voyage back to his station in Europe as Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe. He was headquartered in London and had been given the additional title of Commander of the Twelfth Fleet in October 1943. This placed him in charge of all Naval operations in the Atlantic.
He indicated that in a correspondence to his wife he told her that they had just gotten underway and were headed for open sea when during the first “Abandon Ship Drill,” the Mauretania ran into an oil tanker. Doctor Parker recounted that the SS Hat Creek approached from the New Jersey starboard (right) side on a perpendicular path to the HMS Mauretania II. He indicated that the collision occurred in broad daylight. This was the only account that placed the SS Hat Creek to starboard. He indicated that not much damage was done to either ship and that they put back in to the pier they had just left for repairs consisting of welding plates on the ship. He also told his wife that the Pilot had made the decision to put in to port as a result of the collision. He indicated that a report must be made of the collision. “It was certainly a strange and almost unbelievable sight to see two large ships approaching each other at right angles, both ships refusing to give way to the other. We all could see that they must collide but couldn't believe such a thing possible. However, it did happen and I'm glad to say that our ship, being the larger, rolled a lot less than did the tanker.” The description given in his account was that they pulled her back in and welded plates on the front of her throughout the night. Admiral Stark was said to have gotten off during the repair, to return early the next morning before setting sail. Another source indicated that as the ship was docking, scaffolding was erected and flood lights were set up to illuminate the area for nighttime repairs.14
Additional detail of the collision is given in an online biography by Mr. Rob Gorrell concerning his grandfather, Robert S Butcher, who served in the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 54th Replacement Battalion, US Army during WWII.
“The Mauretania sailed on 8 January 1944 –a Saturday – and was still well within the harbor when she was rammed in the bow by another ship and compelled to return to dock. In “tying up” she struck the dock, causing further damage to the ship. She sailed again about 1630, 9 January 1944. William McLain described the event: The ship departed the dock in a clear day with blue sky from horizon to horizon. It cleared the harbor with the vast sea before it, only one other ship, heading in, on the entire ocean. He was curious to see how they would pass. As they closed in, they seemed to be playing a game of “chicken”. Then they hit, the other ship’s prow striking the Mauretania at the front port side. Both ships came to a stop, then the Mauretania turned about and went back into the port for inspection. She was found to be dented but seaworthy. The f
uel tanks were topped off and the eight-day voyage continued”.15
Mr. Gorrell’s son provided me with the picture shown in Figure 124 showing the view near to where the collision had occurred.
Figure 124: View from HMS Mauretania leaving New York Harbor, January 1944. Courtesy Rob Gorrell Ranger Victor Miller described that the “ship soon heeled over just a bit”. He went on to say that he overheard someone say "The Statue of Liberty's coming back!" He indicated that they had been rammed by an oil tanker and required three days for repairs. He had read later somewhere that the damage to the Mauretania had been repaired by pouring concrete in the bow with this being “the fasted repair on job record”.16
